Less than a week after the passing of Derek Boogaard, Minnesota sports loses another athlete, as Twins great Harmon Killebrew lost his battle with cancer yesterday. There's been few, if any, who were as popular in Minnesota as Harmon was, and perhaps none who were as good a person. There's a ton of coverage in both local dailies, and also on the SB Nation Twins blog Twinkie Town.
In Gopher news, Sandy Stephens has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, an honor that's been long overdue. Stephens was a pioneer, becoming the first black quarterback selected to an All-America team and led the Gophers to two Rose Bowls in the early 1960's, and a national championship in 1960. Stephens passed away at the age of just 59 back in 2000. His number 15 has been retired, and he was also elected to the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1997.
FBT takes a statistical analysis of Jerry Kill using a lot of math and phrases that makes my head hurt. He concludes, if I'm understanding him correctly, that Kill should have the Gophers competitive and bowl eligible every season, and every so often could have them pushing for much bigger things.
Adam Rittenberg has Hope and Concern for Minnesota.
Wisconsin running back Zach Brown has announced he's transferring. He's a senior and would only have one year of eligibility remaining, but if he graduates on time in August, he would be eligible to play for another D-1 school immediately this fall. Brown had a solid freshman season, and looked to be the next great Wisconsin back, but got lost in the shuffle the past few seasons. I know Minnesota has plenty of depth at running back, but there's nobody on the roster as good as Brown. I would LOVE to see him in Maroon and Gold this fall.
Myron says that Gopher basketball will host Virginia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC challenge November 30.
Gopher hockey made an official announcement: and it STILL has nothing to do with the assistant coaches. Instead, it's what we already knew, that they've "officially" signed forward Sam Warning and defenseman Blake Thompson. Thompson, 20, and Warning, 19, both have a few years of experience in the USHL, and show a change in recruiting Don Lucia said was coming- less kids straight out of high school. Warning's signing means there could be 17 forwards on the roster next year, which if my math is right, is 5 more than the minimum of 12 who'll suit up every night.
The Badgers announced four signings, two of whom are from Minnesota.